Today, the magnitude of wind turbine components is very large. Therefore special equipment may be needed when transporting the wind turbine component between different locations such as between the site of manufacture and to a site for shipping or from a site for shipping to a site of installation of the wind turbine.
Wind turbine components such as nacelles or tower sections are transported to the mounting site and between loading and unloading sites by means of large trucks capable of carrying the relevant load on standard trailers, or more preferred, on specialized trailers. Before the truck transportation to e.g. the mounting site, the components may be transported from the central wind turbine production plant by vessels other than trucks such as by ship or by train or even in very special circumstance by aeroplane.
As the wind turbine components often are, or at least may be, quite large and heavy as well as quite irregular in shape, the transportation usually requires a lot of transportation space, e.g. on a trailer of a truck. Furthermore, the components often require special handling and handling equipment due to the heavy load and/or the irregular shape.
US2004/091346 discloses a device for gripping a unit load during handling of same. A vertically disposed base frame has two vertical stays and horizontal traverses. On either side of the lower horizontal traverse, extension arms with hydraulic cylinders can be telescopically withdrawn and extended in the direction of the traverse (horizontally and laterally thereto). In the vertical stays there are stay extensions that can similarly be withdrawn and extended with the aid of hydraulic cylinders in the longitudinal direction of the vertical stays (vertically upwards). A crossbeam may also enable telescopic adjustment such that, in addition to hydraulic (or pneumatic) adjustment of the height, the horizontal lateral position of upper container brackets can also be adapted to the transportation load. Thus, the container brackets may be displaced within the vertical plane of the vertically disposed base frame, horizontally or vertically to be adapted to the transportation load.
WO2004/101313 discloses a transporting system for a wind turbine component by means of a truck. Standardization means having end walls define a four-sided space capable of enclosing the wind turbine component. Upper and lower beams of the standardization means are standard beams of a shipping container including the openings for the above mentioned lashing equipment. First and second frame standardization means are connected to a first and second connection vehicle for a wind turbine component. The connections are established at lower ends with hinged connections, and at upper ends with lift actuators allowing the wind turbine component to be lifted from the ground. Thus, the lift actuators are only established for ensuring the possibility of lifting the wind turbine component form the ground. The positions of the connections are standardized.
WO 2004/041589 discloses a method for supporting on an undercarriage an end of a self-supporting load, in particular a tower section. The end of the load is engaged directly by one lower and one upper support, which supports are connected to the undercarriage and enclose and angle in a vertical plane. The angle between the supports can herein be adapted to the dimensions of the end of the load. The device is provided with a lower and an upper support which enclose an angle with each other in a vertical plane. The supports are each connected with one end to the undercarriage, and the other end of the supports is adapted to engage on the end of the load. The three or four outer ends of the supports constitute a plane surface, either a triangular or a rectangular plane surface.